From the Desk Of…Casey Clark, Senior Vice President, AGA

May 14 will mark the five-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to strike down the federal ban on sports betting. In this short time, legal sports betting has grown faster than even the most bullish experts predicted—a testament to consumer demand for the protections of the legal market and to our industry’s continued hard work to get sports betting right.

Today, sports betting is legal in 38 U.S. jurisdictions and is helping drive the gaming industry to new heights, consistently accounting for more than 10 percent of nationwide commercial gaming revenue.

To ensure legal sports betting thrives just as much over the next five years, we must continue to work toward building a sustainable market. Here are three ways we can achieve this goal.

Consumer Education

It’s incumbent among all sports betting stakeholders—from operators and broadcasters to leagues and teams—to work together to provide both new and experienced bettors with the knowledge and tools to bet responsibly.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) is helping lead this effort through our Have A Game Plan.^® Bet Responsibly.™ campaign. Launched in 2019, the initiative is bringing the broader sports betting ecosystem together around a common consumer education platform, focusing on four core principles of responsible wagering:

• Set a budget and stick to it.
• Keep it social—sports betting is a form of entertainment for adults.
• Know the odds.
• Play with legal, regulated operators.

Already, campaign partners include dozens of the country’s biggest leagues, sportsbooks and broadcasters, and the AGA will continue to grow Have A Game Plan in the coming years to ensure the industry is consistently bringing the entire sports betting ecosystem together around responsibility.

Responsible Advertising

Developed in 2019, the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Responsible Marketing Code for Sports Wagering has set a high standard for advertising during legal sports betting’s expansion, mandating inclusion of responsible gaming language and setting guardrails on target audiences. We always knew the Code would need to evolve along with the industry, and, in close collaboration with our members and inclusive of consumer, policymaker and regulator feedback, we released updates to the Code in March 2023.

These updates address areas where we can continue to raise the bar, including:

• Prohibiting college partnerships that promote, market or advertise sports wagering activity.
• Prohibiting sportsbook NIL deals for amateur and college athlete
• Adding age restrictions (21+) for any individual featured in advertising.
• Banning all use of “risk free” in advertising.

Not only do these changes protect vulnerable groups, but they also demonstrate our industry’s eagerness and ability to listen and adapt. Importantly, these updates formalize an annual Code review, ensuring we’re continuing to lead in this important area.

Combating the Illegal Market

Unlike the legal market, illegal offshore operators and black market bookies offer no consumer protections, do not ensure integrity or fair play, and generate no economic benefit for states. They also represent an existential threat to our industry, costing the legal industry an estimated $3.8 billion in annual revenue and robbing states of $700 million in taxes each year. 

Creating a safer, healthier sports betting environment means eliminating these bad actors. The AGA continues to work with federal and state policymakers and law enforcement to lead this charge. This includes urging the Department of Justice (DoJ) to use the tools at its disposal to make indictments that spotlight these sites as illegal, block web domains and payments to offshore operators, and launch investigations into capital holdings offshore operators may have within the department’s jurisdiction.

We hope to see further action from DoJ and other critical stakeholders in the coming months. In the meantime, you can get involved in the fight against illegal gambling by downloading the AGA’s Stop Illegal Gambling Toolkit.

This October, G2E 2023 will mark an important opportunity to continue this discussion as we work to build a legal sports betting environment that best serves consumers, communities and our industry. We look forward to seeing you there.